Automatic fire window



July 28, 1959 H. c. KNEBEL 2,896,753

AUTOMATIC FIRE WINDOW Filed June 20, 1956 (5 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR.HERMAN C. KNEBEL his ATTORNEYS.

July 28, 1959 H. c. KNEBEL 2,896,753

AUTOMATIC FIRE WINDOW Filed June 20, 1956 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 F/6.5. F/GZ6.

2 If Z4 INVENTOR.

HERMAN C. KNEBEL BY WMM,M 1 1w '5 ATTORNEYS July 28, 1959 Filed June 20,1956 H. C. KNEBEL AUTOMATIC FIRE WINDOW 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR.

C. KNEBEL HERMAN his ATTORNEYS United States Patent I 2,896,753:AUTOMATIC FIRE WINDOW- Herman C. Knebel, Westbupy, assignor to.S. H.

Pomeroy Company, Inc., New Y 0rk,,N.Y., a corporation, of New YorkApplication-June 20, 1956', Serial No. 592,643v 2-Clairns. .(Cl. 1 89=7.4),

This invention relates generally to window closures for buildingstructures and, more particularly, to a window closure wherein means areprovided for automatically closing the window in the-event of fire. Bythus closing the windows, undesirabledr'afts through the windowswhich'may cause-the-fire tospread are eliminated: This inventionrepresents an improvement-of the subject-matter ofmy copendingapplications, Serial No. 460, 53? filed October 6,- 1954, Patent No.2,827,140 issued March 18, 1958, and Serial No. 523,200'filed July 20,1955.

One of the objects of the'present invention is to maintain a windowsash,particularly the upper sash, elfectively locked in the closedposition'after' it hasbeen automatically closed. The lower windowsash ismaintained in closed position'by-gravity and'presents no difficulty in"this respect. The upper window sash, on the other hand; is heldinraised position by the'window closing means. In the event that-thewindow closing means is damaged by the fire, the upper sash may happento fall to open position causingundesirable drafts which may permit thefire to spread.

2,896,753 Patented July 28 1959 2b the lines 2-2- and 3--3,respectively, of Figure 1 looking in thedirection of the arrows;

Figure 4 is a view taken along the line 4- -4' of Figure 3 looking inthe direction of the arrows;-

Figures 5-, 6, 7 and 8 are elevation views-'of-the structure, shown inFigure 'l illustratinggthe operation ofthe sash-locking means of' thepresentinvention;

Figures 9 and 10 are elevation views illustrating the means forautomatically closing the lowersaish of the window;

Figures 11 and 12 are enlargedcross-sectionviews of the fusibleconnection between the lower window sash and the spring balancetherefor, before and after the severance thereof;

Figures 13 and 14 are enlarged crossesection views, similar to Figures.11 and, 12,0f. an .alternativeconstruction before and after theseverance of the parts; and

Figure 15 is a perspective view illustrating the severance of the,fusible connection when subjected to heat.

spring, alatch is provided o lock the upper sash in raised position, Thelatchis mounted out of'the path of travel of the upper sash so that itwill not interfere with the adjustment of the sash in ordinary use.Furthermore, although the latch is disposed in the path of travel of thestriker member, it is retractable to an inoperative position during theupward travel of the striker member. Thus, the latch does not interferewith the operation of the striker member in closing the sash. The latch,however, isnormally urged to operative position. Therefore, as soon asthe striker member has cleared the latch during the upward travelthereof, the latch returns to operative position, in which position itis an effective lock which prevents retrogressive movement of thestriker member and the sash. Thus, the latch maintains the sash inclosed position, regardless of failure of the spring.

For a complete understanding of the present invention, reference may bemade to the detailed description which follows and to the accompanyingdrawings in which:

Figure 1 is a fragmentary perspective view, with portions broken away,of a window construction embodying the present invention, the lower sashbeing removed;

Figures 2 and 3 are cross-sectional views taken along Referring to thedrawings, particularly to Figure I, an upper sash 10 is guided forupward and downwardimovement between a pair of .vertical jambs 1'1v(only one of which is shown in the drawings). A lower sash12 (showninFigures 9 and 10) is guided for upward and downward movement between apair of vertical jambs 13 (only one of whichis shown in the drawings).The vertical jambs 11, 13 extend between a horizontally disposed sill1'4 and an upperheader 15- (see Figures 5 to 10').

In order to counterbalance'the, weight of the. upper sash I0 and tofacilitate the opening and, closingthereof, the upper, sash is hung bymeans of conventional spring balances 16 from the, upper header 15. Thelower ends of the springbalances16 are attached to, the sashlO. Thespring balanceslfi permit. the sash to, be closed ormoved to the desiredposition between the sill 14 and the header 15.

In the event of fire, the upper sash 10 is. adapted to be raised, toclosedv Position by, the engagement. ofa striker member 20 with-thefittingf 18 attachedto the upper sash. Accordingly, thev striker member20 .is adapted to be attached to the lower endof, a: vertically disposedtension spring 21,th e upper end of which is attached tothe header 15.The striker member- 20'is normally attached between. closely spacedparallelwalls of a U-shaped holder. 23.by: means of a' steel ball orpellet 24. The. holder, in turn, is fastened to or near thesill 14 ofthe window. The striker member 20 .and at least one of the wallsofthepholder 23 are. provided with substantially aligned; holes.-to.r,eceive the steel 'ball or pellet 2.4.. which is.held, in placebyasealZS which fuses when subject to high temperature.

Because of the 'close spacing between the parallel walls of the holder23, when the steel ball or pellet 24 is held in place within the alignedopenings, the striker member 20 is securely anchored to the holder. Athigh temperatures, such as those caused by fire, the seal 25 will becomefused, and the tension of the spring 21 will urge the striker member 20upwardly, forcing the steel ball or pellet 24 out of the alignedopenings in the striker member 20 and the wall of the holder 23, asindicated 'in Figures 6, 7 and 8. Upon the severance of the fusible Inorder to maintain the upper sash 10 in'closed posi-,

tion, notwithstanding any damage that may be done to the spring 21 .bythe fire, a pivoted latch 30 is provided to securely lock the upper sashin closed position. The

latch 30 is pivotally mounted on a stud 31 within the jamb 11, the studbeing attached to the wall 11a of the jamb. The latch 30 is disposed ina vertical plane substantially parallel to but forward of the plane ofthe sash 10, so that the latch does not interfere with the adjustment ofthe sash in ordinary use. The latch 30, however, when in operativeposition, that is, the position latch with the side wall 11b of thejamb, is interposed in the path of travel of the striker member 20.When, therefore, the fusible connection between the striker member 20and the holder 23 is broken, the striker mem- ,determined by theengagement of the corner 30a of the ber 20, during its upward travel,will engage the sloped edge 30b of the latch, pivoting the latch in thedirection indicated by the arrow in Figure 4 out of the path of travelof the striker member. As shown in Figure 8, when the striker member haspassed the corner 300 of thelatch, the latch will drop by gravitybeneath the lower edge of the striker member 20, thereby resuming theposition shown in Figure 4, with the upper edge 30d beneath the strikermember and the corner 30a in engagement with the wall 11b of the jamb.In the event of failure of the spring 21, the upper sash 10 is,nevertheless, supported in its uppermost closed position by the latch30'.

From the foregoing description,-it is evident that the 7counterclockwise pivotal movement of the latch is determined by itsengagement with the wall 11b. Throughout this range of movement of thelatch, the center of gravity is at all times so disposed in relation tothe pivot that the latch is always urged by gravity toward the operativeposition. Thus, the latch does not depend on the action of a spring tomove it to operative position after being urged to inoperative retractedposition by the engagement of the striker member therewith.

The latch 30, therefore, provides, a safety feature which normally doesnot interfere with the opening and closing of the upper sash 10.Furthermore, in the event of fire, the latch does not impede the normalfunction of the striker member 20 in raising the sash 10 to closedposition. Once, however, the sash has been raised to closed position,the latch 30 drops by gravity into operative position beneath thestriker member 20 and efiectively locks the upper sash in closedposition.

is attached by means of a fusible connection to a bracket 37. Thebracket 37 includes a portion 37a which is affixed to the sash 12, and acircular curved end 37b which receives the lower end of the springbalance 35.

The lower end of the spring balance 35 is provided with an annularcollar 40 aflixed thereto by means of the rim 35c formed integrally withthe lower end of the balance (as shownin Figures 11 and 12) or by meansof a retaining ring 41 attached to the lower end of the spring balance(as shown in Figures 13 and 14). The outer periphery of the annularcollar 40 is provided with depressions a therein which are capable ofalignment with holes b in the circularly curved end 37b of the bracket37. The bracket 37 and the collar 40 are attached together by steelballs or pellets 38 which are sealed within the holes b and inengagement with the depressions a by fusible seals 39. In the event offire, the fusible seals 39 melt, disconnecting the lower end of thebalance from the bracket 37, and permitting the lower sash 12 to fall toclosed position by gravity.

The invention has been shown by way of example only, and obviously manymodifications and variations may be made therein without departing fromthe spirit of the invention. The invention, therefore, is not to belimited to any specified form or embodiment, except in so far assuchlimitations are set forth in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A self-closing window comprising an adjustable upper sash, a springurged striker member engageable -with said sash for moving the sash toclosed position, a fusible connection for maintaining said strikermember in inoperative position, but disconnectable to release saidstriker member when subjected to heat, sash locking means retractable topermit the sash to be raised to closed position but movable to operativeposition to prevent the sash from falling to open position when closedby the striker member, a pair of fixed members spaced apart, saidstriker member being accommodated therebetween in inoperative position,and aligned openings in at least one of said fixed members and thestriker member for receiving the fusible connection.

2. A self-closing window as set forth in claim 1 wherein the fusibleconnection includes a non-fusible pellet accommodated at least in partwithin said aligned openings and a fusible seal for sealing said pellettherein.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS690,535 Swaney Jan. 7, 1902 709,800 Rupp Sept. 23, 1902 728,135 Rupp May12, 1903

